Wednesday, May 16, 2007

World-class bigot and hater Flynt gets a pass from Duke University, HBO and the New York Times

Though many of us (and especially those of us with brains who live in Louisiana) cannot help but be grateful to Larry Flynt for exposing the hypocrisy of right-wing womanizer Bob Livingston, there has never been any doubt in my mind as to Flynt's character: He is a vicious, hateful bigot who has caused untold amounts of damage to women, people of color and members of the LBGT community.

But Duke University, HBO and the New York Times would like us to forget about all that, and focus on Flynt's status as a put-upon free speech "hero." Feminist Law Professors provides an examination of the documentary, The Right To Be Left Alone, released at the Full Frame Documentary Festival, sponsored by Duke, HBO and the Times. 2,000 films were entered in the festival, and only The Right To Be Left Alone quite literally was left alone; it did not pass through the critical review process. Flynt has been linked with everything from the most shocking misogyny to hatred of the animal liberation movement (he has a lot of company among liberals there) to anti-Semitism to child pornography, but the film does not mention any of this.